Page 200 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

He nods as if he expected the answer and turns to go. I thought I was ready for him to leave, that I’d be okay with him departing. After all, I knewhe wouldn’t be okay with my answer. He wants to know where his place is, why I care for him, and my reply was, ‘I don’t know.’ Of course he was going to be unhappy.Except pain tears through me as I reach out to stop him from leaving, my hand landing on his arm.

“Wait, don’t go. Please—”

Spinning around, he looks down at my hand on his arm before following it up to my stricken expression. Surprise crosses his face, and before he can stop himself, he pulls me into his arms in a very un-Eldrin-like move. “I’m not leaving, I promise.” His voice is gruff, his body rigid, as if he’s not used to comforting people. I’m so shocked he’s trying to console me that I stiffen against him. With a frustrated sigh, he releases me and steps back. “I just need some fresh air to think.”

This time as he walks away, I watch him and know he’ll come back, but I can feel his pain and the loneliness that aches inside his chest, his need to belong. I’ve felt that pain myself, and I think that shared experience is part of what pulls us together.I can’t let him leave feeling like that.

“Eldrin,” I call out, stepping towards him before I even realise what I’m doing. He stops and looks over his shoulder at me, but he doesn’t turn around, his golden eyes almost glowing in the glimmer of the firelight. “I may not have the answers you want.” I keep walking until there are only a few steps between us, his eyes viewing me wearily. “But you are my friend, and there will alwaysbe a place for you at my side for as long as you want it.” His eyes flicker in the low light, but with his body sideways, his face is mostly in shadow, so I can’t see his expression. His silence makes me nervous, even more so because I can’t see his reaction. “Everything else we can work out as we go along.”

He continues to observe me for a few more seconds, then I see him nod. “Thank you.” His response sends a rush of relief through me, and I let out a deep breath as he turns and walks into the darkness.

Tension I hadn’t realised I was holding suddenly leaves my body, and the events of the day catch up with me. The fire of the gods restored my strength when it engulfed me this morning in the ceremony, but now my body aches. I still feel strong, which surprises me. I expected to feel tired, and while I feel emotionally exhausted, physically, I’m fine. It’s almost like a different part of me has awoken. Perhaps the ceremony triggered my hidden heritage to awaken. Vaeril has suspected for a while that some of my elvish traits, such as speed, have been hidden away, either by magic or of my own doing as a protection mechanism when I was a slave. Occasionally, they will slip out, so we know I possess these abilities, but it’s just figuring out how to unlock them permanently.

Frowning in the direction that Eldrin walked off in, I find myself rubbing at my sternum, right over the place in my chest where my bonds lie. Feeling confused and emotionally drained, I turn and make my way back to my friends, following the soft pull of Vaeril’s bond. A couple of people call out to me as I walkpast, and I nod and raise a hand in greeting, but I don’t stop. There’s music playing now, and people are dancing, the sounds of laughter and happiness reaching me. The closer I get to Vaeril, the more at ease I feel, and I can appreciate the sights around me. The bonfire with Vaeril and Naril comes into view, and I notice Tor has joined them. As soon as he spots me, he pushes up from the bench and meets me halfway, opening his arms wide for me to step into his embrace.

“There’s my tribal mate,” Tor greets, his smile wide as he leans down to press a kiss to my lips. My surprise at his public show of affection is quickly wiped away by desire as his hands rub over my back. As he pulls away, I make a needy noise in the back of my throat I would usually be mortified at having made in public, but Tor just chuckles, his hold on me tightening possessively.

A presence arrives at my side, but I know it’s Vaeril without even having to look up, my chest doing a little flip the closer he gets to me. With Tor at my front, and my elven mate at my side, I feel something change within, heating me up from the inside. Shifting my weight from foot to foot, I try to relieve some of the feeling that’s growing within me.

Placing a hand on my chin, Vaeril gently pulls my face around to look at him, his silver brows set in a delicate frown. “What did Eldrin say? I felt your distress.”

I want to reach up and trace his features with my fingertip and memorise each inch, to take away his solemn and serious expression he always seems to be wearing. “He was just being Eldrin,” I reply with a shrug, distracted by the fact my body is still pressed against Tor, the clothing between us doing little to stop me from feeling his muscular body. “We worked it out.”I’ll explain later, I tell him with my eyes, hoping he understands. I know Eldrin wouldn’t want me discussing it with Tor around. Idon’t trust my feelings right now, otherwise I’d push the thought through the bond.

Almost as if on cue, Tor moves his hand slightly on my back, and it’s a completely innocent move, yet it sets off a rippling effect in my body. My head rolls, and my back arches as much as it can in Tor’s hold, my body shuddering as a gasp of pleasure rolls through me from head to toe. I hear Vaeril groan next to me, his hand tightening on my arm.

When I straighten and raise my head to look at Vaeril, he’s smiling wryly at me, his chest heaving as if he’s just run a long distance, and I realise he must have felt what I did through the bond. I go to apologise, my cheeks warm, but a shocked, sharp inhale catches my attention. Lifting my gaze to Tor, I can’t stop chuckling at his expression. He looks torn between confusion and happiness, the two emotions warring on his face, but eventually he grins, rubbing his hands in slow circles on my back once again. Thankfully, it doesn’t have the same effect, but I can feel something building within me, and it wants Tor.

“What just happened?” the tribesman asks, looking between Vaeril and me, taking in my current state and realising he’s probably going to get more answers from the elf. He can’t seem to take his eyes off me for long though, his gaze constantly being drawn back to me. “Your pupils are huge.”

Vaeril hums low in his throat, and I pull my gaze away from Tor long enough to watch him. The elf’s hand is still on my arm, his fingers drawing patterns against my skin like he can’t bear not to be touching me, and I’d bet he can feel this need that’s roused within me. “I think the ceremony has awoken more of her fae side, and the mead has…lowered her inhibitions a little,” Vaeril explains, confirming my theory, his eyes roving over my face. Pain flickers across his expression, but it’s gone so quickly that I think I must have imagined it. “She’s behaving like a female elf about to claim her mate.”

Oh. Is that why he was asking all the questions about Eldrin? But he’s not my fated mate, I couldn’t claim him even if I wanted to. Something twinges within me at that, but I push it away.He’s probably upset because he knows you’re going to bond with Tor, I tell myself, and I know on some level this is true. Elves are very territorial, so for Vaeril, it’s a big issue that I have more than one fated mate. Tor is the last of them to be bonded to me.

“Oh.” Tor’s voice echoes my sentiment, and as I lift my head to look at him, I see a large grin spreading across his face and pride shining in his eyes. “You’re ready to accept me as your mate?”

I want to tell him I’ve been ready for a long time, that circumstances kept getting in the way, that I was worried about our cultural differences. Since we arrived with the tribes, Tor had taken a step back and not been as intimate with me. Seeing as we have to have sex to seal the bond, I was beginning to wonder when it would happen. There had been plenty of intense, longing looks and lingering touches, but he would always pull away from my kisses and rarely instigated anymore.

“Of course I am,” I assure him, gripping the front of his shirt tightly.

His eyes flick over me, but a frown forms on his face, and he looks over at Vaeril. “But if she’s drunk, I don’t want to take advantage—”

Frustration flares through me, and I shake him gently to bring his attention back to me, baring my teeth in annoyance. “I’m not drunk.” His eyebrows shoot up, and I know he’s linking my unusual behaviour to the alcohol. It’s true there is some alcohol in my system and it’s making me more…confident, but I am fully in control of all my actions. My discussion with Eldrin sobered me up pretty quickly, leaving only a slight buzz in my system. The fire left in my veins now is pure lust, and it’s making it difficult to focus on anything else, especially havingVaeril so close to me as well. Visions of being pinned between the two of them, naked and panting as they worship my body, flash through my mind, making me grip onto Tor a little harder. My nails must dig into his skin because he grunts, but he does nothing to stop me. In fact, I can feel something hard pressing against my hip, which only sends another flare of desire through me.

Tor pulls his gaze from mine and looks over at Vaeril. “Are you okay with this?” I can tell he doesn’t really want to be having this conversation, but I’m grateful he is.

Vaeril seems surprised by the question, and when a feeling of respect reaches me through the bond, I know he appreciates Tor taking the time to ask. Pulling his hand from me, he takes a step back, even though it looks like it physically pains him not to be touching me. “I can’t stop it, and the goddess has willed it,” he replies in a typical elvish non-answer, not really telling Tor his opinions on the situation. Just as I think that’s all the response we’re going to get on the topic, Vaeril makes a slight humming noise, and when I look up, I see him wearing a wry smile. “I suppose I know of worse men I would choose to have at my side.”

Stunned, I watch as Vaeril nods his head at Tor, his intense gaze flicking once to me before he returns to the fire where Naril waits for him. I can’t quite believe what just happened. “Did Vaeril just give us his blessing?” I query, looking up at an equally surprised Tor.

“I think he did.” He laughs and tightens his arms around me once again, instantly making me forget my confusion as my desire for him reignites. His smile slowly drops as an intense expression takes over his face, his eyes locked onto mine as he opens his mouth to speak. “Dance with me?”

That is not what I expected him to say. I stare at him in stunned silence as a dozen thoughts go through my mind.He simply looks down at me, waiting for my response. Anger bubbles up inside me.

“No.” Releasing his shirt, I take a small step back and cross my arms over my chest. Tor watches me warily, the corner of his mouth twitching up as he tries not to smile, knowing that will only frustrate me more, and he’s right. “I am not letting you put this off any longer. Take me into a tent and make me your mate in more ways than just words!” Tor’s expression changes as I speak, his smile dropping and a crease appearing between his eyes as he realises what I’m saying. Suddenly, my frustration and desire are replaced by nausea as an abrupt understanding comes to me. “Unless—” Pausing, I take a deep breath, swallowing against my parched throat. “Unless you’ve been putting it off because this is not what you want?” The words taste like acid, but I can’t seem to stop them now that they have entered my mind.

Tor’s shaking his head and moving towards me before I’ve even finished the question, gripping my shoulders. “Clarissa.” I can’t bear to look at him, the thought that he may not want me after all is so painful, it overrides all logic. His hand shoots up and he grips my chin, gently bringing my face around so I’m looking at him. “Liv. No.” His voice is firm, and the mention of that name, ‘Liv,’ makes me pay attention. He’s called me that before. Before I can ask what he’s talking about, his arms come around me and he scoops me up against his chest.

Gasping, I instinctively grip his shoulders as he strides away from the bonfires, ignoring the stares and catcalls of the tribespeople. Looking up, I see Tor’s handsome features are set in a stern expression, and I know I’m in trouble. Thankfully, I don’t have to wait long before we reach his tent and he storms through the entrance, the fabric flaps falling shut behind us as he puts me down near his bed and starts to pace. Like most of the tents here, it’s tall enough so he can stand at his full height, andit’s big enough to fit a bed, a small table, and chair, so he is only able to walk about three strides before having to turn the other way. Perching awkwardly on the edge of the bed, I watch him, my gut clenching. “Tor, look, I’m sorry—”

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